PAD protest: Just who is benefiting from rally?

February 2, 2011
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation

Prime Minister Hun Sen should be grateful to the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and the Thai Patriots' Network (TPN) for rallying against the Thai government, because their arguments and demands could be very useful for Cambodia.

The two groups have been camping outside the Prime Minister's Office for a week to pressure the government into taking tougher action over border conflicts with Cambodia. They have demanded that the government scrap the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on boundary demarcation, use military force to kick Cambodian communities out of disputed areas near Preah Vihear Temple and quit the World Heritage Committee.

The MoU, signed in 2000 under the Democrat-led government of Chuan Leekpai, is a legal instrument meant to set up a joint boundary committee, to help survey and demarcate the border.

The key point of concern in the MoU is Article 1 (c), which says "maps which are the result of demarcation works of the Commission of Delimitation of the Boundary between Indochina and Siam set up under the Convention of 1904 and the Treaty of 1907 between France and Siam, and other documents relating to the application of the Convention of 1904 and the Treaty of 1907 between France and Siam".

Like Cambodia, the PAD believes that the "maps" mentioned in this Article include the 1:200,000 scale one, which is part of a series of maps made by France that show the Preah Vihear Temple and its adjacent area being in Cambodia.

In a statement on December 28, the Cambodian Foreign Ministry confirmed a PAD belief that the maps resulting from the demarcation work conducted by the commission are actually based on the 1:200,000 scale map. The International Court of Justice used this map as a basic legal document when it ruled in 1962 that Preah Vihear was situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, meanwhile, has been arguing that Thailand never accepted the Dangrek map, which was part of the series, because the Siamese-French boundary commission did not come up with it. The MoU mentions many maps, he said, implying that Thailand could choose any that worked in its favour.

The PAD, however, insists that Abhisit is wrong because the map referred to in the Article, which is related to the 1904 Convention and 1907 Treaty for the area near Preah Vihear, is no other than the Dangrek map. Yellow-shirt Senator Khamnoon Sitthisamarn said Cambodia would never use any other map to indicate the boundary near Preah Vihear.

It is unlikely that Abhisit will revoke the MoU, but at least Cambodia can claim that a group of Thais believe that the map mentioned in the boundary pact was the French-made 1:200,000 scale one.

If Thailand uses force, as demanded by the PAD, to drive Cambodians out of the disputed area, then Phnom Penh would have good reason to turn to the international community, if not the UN, and claim that its big neighbour was being aggressive. The demand that the government use force has already damaged Thailand's reputation.

As for the PAD's call for Thailand to step down from the World Heritage Committee - it makes very little sense. It would be good for Cambodia if Thailand withdrew, because then it would not be able to intervene in Phnom Penh's management plan for the temple.

The Preah Vihear Temple was given the World Heritage Site status in 2008, but Thailand, as a member of the committee, blocked its final management plan because the temple's vicinity was still under dispute.

No wonder Abhisit is questioning PAD's real intentions - is it protesting for the benefit of Thailand or Cambodia?